The present invention relates to the field of card-key code responsive locks. In co-pending patent application No. 538,980, filed 10/04/83, filed in the name of Walter Lovell, and assigned to Avant Incorporated, a non-electrical lock (the Lovell lock) is provided having a first set of pivoted latching fingers having hook ends facing in a first direction, together with a second set of pivoted latching fingers interlaced with the first set in accordance with a particular combination, which unlocks the device. The fingers of the second set of latching fingers have hook ends facing in a direction opposite to the direction of orientiation of the hook ends of the first set, and actuation of only the proper combination of fingers causes the hooks of all fingers to be displaced away from the lock anchor members to unlock the Lovell lock. More specifically, if one or more fingers of the first finger set are not actuated, so that all of the fingers which are supposed to be actuated are not actuated, the hook of such finger(s) will remain engaged with a first anchor member and the lock will not open. On the other hand should one or more fingers of the second set be actuated, contrary to the proper combination, the oppositely facing hook portions thereof, which are normally disengaged from a second anchor member will become engaged with such second anchor member, to prevent the lock from opening. The hook ends are formed at terminal portions of the longer finger portions of the pivoted fingers, whereas permanent magnets are affixed to the short finger portions of the fingers, which are on the opposite side of the finger pivot point, relative to the long finger portions of the fingers.
The plastic card-key has the proper access code combination of spots of magnetic (magnetically permeable) material which causes all of the short legs of the first set of fingers to be attracted to the spots, to in turn pivot the entire first set of fingers to enable the release of the lock. Since the ratio of the length of the long finger portions over the length of the short finger portions is greater than unity, the hooks will move a relatively large distance away from the locking anchor members to effect the unambiguous unlatched condition, without potential manufacturing tolerance problems. In contrast, due to this lever configuration, movement of short leg portions will be through a shorter distance, which means that the plastic key card may be positioned very close to the permanent magnets to thus enable the use of slight amounts of suitable magnetic material in the key card to attract the magnets to actuate the fingers. Such a non-electrical lock is suitable for applications such as locks for apartments in an apartment building, where each card-key belonging to each tenant would bear a unique access code. Such a lock is also suitable for providing access to an area such as a parking lot for example. In this case, a number of patrons authorized to use the parking lot would possess a card-key having a group access code which is common to all patrons, in contrast to the tenants, such access code being utilized to actuate a lock for opening a gate for example, to enable entrance into the parking lot.
It is deemed highly desirable to provide patrons with such card-keys having a common group access code. However, it would also be desirable to selectively lock out one or more bearers of the card-key in the event that they do not pay their parking lot fees. In the absence of the present invention, a patron would be able to retain the card and continue using the lot.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide apparatus particularly useful in connection with the aforesaid Lovell Lock, which readily provides the operator of the parking lot with the capability of individually locking out selected patrons, regardless of whether they retain the card-key. In the apartment house application, each access code to the apartment would of course differ from access codes of other card-key bearers or tenants. However, one portion of the card-key could contain a lobby access code, common to all tenants for permitting entrance into the lobby. In this case we may wish to lock out a previous tenant from the lobby, and the improved lock of the present invention may be utilized to perform this function.